1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an ink cartridge, and more specifically, to an ink cartridge that improves the flow of ink therein.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, ink is filled in a main body of ink cartridges of an inkjet printer and jetted in a predetermined amount through ink nozzles formed in the main body to print an image on papers.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a conventional ink cartridge. Referring to FIG. 1, a container body 3 of the ink cartridge 1 accommodates an ink holding member 2 that absorbs the ink. An ink supply pipe 4 is formed below the container body 3 in fluid communication with an ink head (not shown). An inlet of the ink supply pipe 4 is formed in the container body 3 and protrudes from a bottom side of the container body 3 to a predetermined height. Around the protruding inlet of the ink supply pipe 4, the ink holding member 2 is compressed/pressed, and as a result, greater capillary force occurs in comparison with an adjacent area to efficiently feed the ink to the ink head. A cover 5 of the container body 3 includes a discharge hole 5a and an ink injection hole 5b that fluidly communicate with the outside. A filter 6 is installed at the inlet of the ink supply pipe 4 to block the inflow of contaminants that might be included in the inks.
With the above configuration, when the ink is injected from the ink head, additional ink is absorbed to the ink head through the ink supply pipe 4 by the capillary force of the ink supply pipe 4 in the same amount as the injected ink from the container body 3. By repeating the above operations, the image is printed and the amount of the ink in the container body 3 is gradually reduced while flowing downward due to the weight-thereof. Since the area where the compression of the ink holding member 2 is greatest, that is, the contact area compressed by the inlet of the ink supply pipe 4 has the greatest capillary force, the ink flows towards the inlet of the ink supply pipe 4.
However, the ink is drawn toward the inlet of the ink supply pipe 4 only within a range where the capillary force exists, which occurs by the compression of the inlet of the ink supply pipe 4. In other words, the ink does not move at corners within the container body 3 or edges within the container 3 far from the ink supply pipe 4 where the capillary force does not reach.
Unused ink remaining at the corners within the container body 3 deteriorates the utility of the ink. Thus, to obtain desired ink utility, the size of the ink cartridge has to be enlarged, while the currently available inkjet printers tend to be light-weighted, compact-sized, and portable, it is not easy to manufacture compact-sized ink cartridges due to the above problems.